A Recurrent Discussion on the Strategic Objective of Employment
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International Labour Conference Provisional Record 12(Rev.) 103rd Session, Geneva, May–June 2014 Sixth item on the agenda: A recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of employment Report of the Committee for the Recurrent Discussion on Employment 1. The Committee for the Recurrent Discussion on Employment set up by the Conference, at its first sitting on 28 May 2014, initially consisted of 188 members (90 Government members, 40 Employer members and 58 Worker members). 1 2. The Committee elected its Officers as follows: Chairperson: Mr Marhijn Visser (Government member, Netherlands) Vice-Chairpersons: Mr Alberto Echavarría Saldarriaga (Employer member, Colombia) and Ms Helen Kelly (Worker member, New Zealand) Reporter: Mr Sipho Ndebele (Government member, South Africa) at its fifth sitting 3. At its fifth sitting the Committee appointed a Drafting Group to draw up conclusions based on views during the plenary discussions, for consideration by the Committee. The Drafting Group was chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee and was composed of eight 1 The modifications were as follows: (a) 29 May: 206 members (106 Government members entitled to vote with 2,379 votes each, 39 Employer members with 6,466 votes each and 61 Worker members with 4,134 votes each); (b) 30 May: 206 members (108 Government members entitled to vote with 35 votes each, 28 Employer members with 135 votes each and 70 Worker members with 54 votes each); (c) 5 June: 204 members (112 Government members entitled to vote with 45 votes each, 20 Employer members with 252 votes each and 72 Worker members with 70 votes each); (d) 6 June: 203 members (111 Government members entitled to vote with 120 votes each, 20 Employer members with 666 votes each and 72 Worker members with 185 votes each). ILC103-PR12(Rev)-RELME-140612-3-En.docx 12(Rev.)/1 Government members, eight Employer members and eight Worker members. The members appointed were: Government members: Ms Vivian Asempapa (Government member, Ghana), Ms Athina Diakoumakou (Government member, Greece), Mr Habib Patrick Djibril (Government member, Benin), Mr Michael Hobby (Government member, New Zealand), Mr Julio César Mercado (Government member, Argentina), Dr Riyadh Hassan Mohammed Ali (Government member, Iraq), Ms Kristin Lipke Sparding (Government member, United States), Mr Stanislav Stepakov (Government member, Russian Federation) Employer members: Ms Carolina Castro (Employer member, Argentina), Ms Tanya Cohen (Employer member, South Africa), Ms Ronnie L. Goldberg (Employer member, United States), Mr Bernard N’Doumi (Employer member, Côte d’Ivoire), Mr Phil O’Reilly (Employer member, New Zealand), Mr Jorge Riesco (Employer member, Chile), Ms Loes Van Embden Andres (Employer member, Netherlands), Ms Iftida Yasar (Employer member, Indonesia) Worker members: Ms María del Pilar Blanco (Worker member, Chile), Mr Etienne Castillo (Worker member, France), Ms Joanna Bernice Coronacion (Worker member, Philippines), Ms Helen Kelly (Worker member, New Zealand), Mr Job Muniaro (Worker member, Namibia), Mr Magnús Norddahl (Worker member, Iceland), Ms Kelly Ross (Worker member, United States), Mr Jean Marie Zambo Amougou (Worker member, Cameroon) 4. At its seventh sitting, the Committee constituted a subcommittee tasked with preparing recommendations on linguistic amendments that would be put to the Committee for consideration. The members of the subcommittee dealing with the Spanish version were one Government member (Ms Míriam Lau Valdés (Cuba)), one Employer member (Ms Carolina Castro (Argentina)) and one Worker member (Mr Luis Chávez (Chile)). The members of the subcommittee dealing with the French version were one Government member (Mr Emmanuel Fourquet (France)), one Employer member (Mr Guy-François Lamy (Canada)), and one Worker member (Mr Jean-Claude Tricoche (France)). 5. The Committee had before it Report VI, entitled Employment policies for sustainable recovery and development, prepared by the International Labour Office (Office) for a general discussion of the sixth item on the agenda: A recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of employment. 6. The Committee held nine sittings. 12(Rev.)/2 ILC103-PR12(Rev)-RELME-140612-3-En.docx Introduction 7. In his opening statement, the Chairperson highlighted the relevance of the work before the Committee. There was a unique opportunity to demonstrate collective commitment to take up employment challenges, to have an exchange on the approaches that had worked best in different country circumstances and to provide guidance to the Office on its priorities of work in the following period. 8. The representative of the Secretary-General (Ms Sandra Polaski, Deputy Director-General for Policy (DDG/P)), recalled that recurrent item discussions of the four key strategic objectives of the Organization (employment, fundamental rights at work, social protection and social dialogue) had been introduced as regular Conference agenda items by the 2008 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. The objective is to give constituents the opportunity to evaluate progress and challenges and provide periodic guidance on practical ways forward under each one of the four strategic objectives. The first recurrent discussion on employment had been held in 2010. This second discussion in 2014 offered the opportunity to review actions taken in the member States and by the Office since 2010 and consider ways forward. Employment was a high priority for the ILO and the reforms carried out under the new Director-General paid strong attention to the Office’s ability to support constituents in this area. 9. The deputy representative of the Secretary-General (Ms Azita Berar Awad, Director of the Employment Policy Department (EMPLOYMENT)), presented the Office report. She summarized its analysis of the main employment challenges of unemployment, underemployment, informality and other indicators affecting countries in diverse contexts. The impact of the global crisis and economic slowdown has left a significant jobs gap. The policy response to the crisis had shifted from economic stimulus to fiscal consolidation but was converging now on the need to break the vicious cycle of low aggregate demand, low investment, low consumption, low growth and poor employment outcomes, in particular unrelenting youth unemployment and rising long-term unemployment and working poverty. The G20 St Petersburg Leaders’ Declaration in 2013 had confirmed the importance of strengthening growth and creating jobs as a top priority through integrated policies. In addition, several structural trends were impacting and reshaping labour markets bringing along new opportunities as well as challenges. These drivers of change included: a new geography of growth with an increasing share of global GDP by developing countries; a new demographic context (population growth, ageing and increasing dependency ratios, the youth bulge, urbanization and migration); the transition to environmentally sustainable development; rising income inequality; persistent gender inequality, and growing skills mismatches. 10. She highlighted the Office’s work over the period 2010–13, and results achieved in particular in the follow-up to the conclusions of the first recurrent discussion on employment. These results were presented under ten themes highlighted in the conclusions of the first recurrent item discussion with examples given across all means of ILO action: policy-oriented research, policy advice, capacity building, social dialogue and technical cooperation. Global advocacy for employment promotion included efforts to ensure that employment goals, targets and indicators would be included in the post-2015 global development agenda and expanding partnerships at international and regional levels. The internal reform of the ILO, including the centenary initiatives and the eight areas of critical importance (ACIs), provided a platform from which the Office could focus interdisciplinary expertise and broad-based intra-Office cooperation on the dual challenge of promoting a job-rich inclusive growth strategy while responding to the impact of current, and anticipated further, structural changes. The suggested points for discussion were aimed at reaching a shared understanding of current employment challenges and the ILC103-PR12(Rev)-RELME-140612-3-En.docx 12(Rev.)/3 main drivers of change and at assessing the main elements of a comprehensive and coherent policy framework for employment. Opening statements 2 11. The Worker Vice-Chairperson recalled that the conclusions adopted at the 2010 ILC recurrent item discussion on employment as well as the Global Jobs Pact had provided a broad framework to address the impact of the financial crisis and speed up recovery – stimulating demand, putting employment at the centre of macroeconomic policies, policy coordination, both nationally and internationally, and respect for workers’ rights and international labour standards. Yet many governments had turned to austerity policies, leading to rising unemployment and underemployment, youth and long-term unemployment, cuts in public sector wages, pensions and public services, attacks on labour protection and overturning collective agreements, further weakening the bargaining power of workers. These were all outcomes of deliberate policy choices and reflected a lack of political will to address the employment challenges. 12. The current high levels of unemployment were due to lack of global aggregate demand, which itself had been caused by a long